


That Old Click Moment

by Vanessa_Cocotea



Category: Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio), Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor Adventures - Various Authors, Doctor Who: Virgin New Adventures - Various Authors
Genre: Angst and Humor, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-03
Updated: 2013-06-03
Packaged: 2017-12-13 21:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/828969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanessa_Cocotea/pseuds/Vanessa_Cocotea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written in 2009, because I'd needed some encouragement to finish an assortment of boring household tasks. Still find it useful, for the same reason...</p><p>Benny and Eight do the spring cleaning, during which time Benny has to put up with brutal teasing from Eight and the TARDIS, plays dress-up and tries to destroy the Eye of Harmony. The cinema gives Eight nightmares, the laundry wears him to a frazzle, and, as a consequence , he runs out of headache medicine...</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Old Click Moment

They were in the console room. Benny was absorbed in doing some archeological work on her laptop and the Doctor was browsing the bookshelves investigating some of the books he hadn't read quite so often. He was just returning a book to its place on the shelf when he noticed a used mug on a nearby table. He put the book back and went to return the mug to the kitchen for washing. He'd barely gone a few metres when he spied a crumpled biscuit pack wrapper. He picked that up as well, wondering what he could have been so engrossed in that he'd forget to clear up after himself. He couldn't even think when it could have been. As he walked to the kitchen, he noticed an assortment of things out of place. He disposed of an armful of rubbish in the kitchen and did a check of things, then took off for a certain storage cupboard, thinking, "Best get on with it. Plenty of time, but no time to waste..."

********

Benny had just finished vetting her account of her most recent digs when she heard the most extraordinary noise. It sounded like a car engine with hiccups. She looked up to see the Doctor driving what looked like a giant golf cart with a waggon attached behind it. He drove straight into the console room and straight up to the console. Without getting out of the cart, he reached over and opened the TARDIS's main doors.

With a smile and a wink, he told her, "Back as soon as I can." Then he left the TARDIS, leaving Benny staring after him in total bewilderment and amazement as the entry steps magically became a ramp to accommodate the cart, then turned back into steps again, once the Doctor was out of the doors. Benny knew she should be used to the TARDIS's abilities by now, but the old girl could still surprise her at times.

********

A few hours later, the Doctor was back at the TARDIS. He got out of the cart, opened the TARDIS doors, got back into the cart and drove into the console room, the steps again doing their "ramp thing". Benny was standing at the console, looking expectantly at him.

He grinned at her. "Benny, would you be so kind as to help me unload the cart." Benny shrugged and walked over to find the cart was full up with every sort of cleaning apparatus and supply she could possibly imagine...and some she couldn't.

"Doctor?" She just looked at him. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Benny, you and I are going to give the TARDIS a good spring clean! Every room we can find... And we're starting now! Simply can't wait." He dug a couple of brand new Hoovers out of the cart, explaining that he couldn't think where his old ones had got to.

"But, doesn't the TARDIS keep herself clean?" Benny looked at him, sceptically.

"Normally, yes. But, every so often she likes a bit of help. So we're doing it this time. Here." He passed her a blue pinny and, taking off his frock coat, cravat and waistcoat, donned a similar one himself. "Now, do you want to start in the console room or do you want to start elsewhere?"

Benny sighed, shrugged and picking up a basket, filled it with assorted cleaning supplies and, grinning at the Doctor, took off for the door to the rest of the TARDIS. The Doctor shook his head. He knew exactly where Benny was headed and he also suspected she wasn't going to find THAT room easy to clean. He grinned at the thought of her reaction.

********

Benny set her basket on the floor in front of the double oak doors. She immediately stuck a hand to her forehead. Leaving the basket where it was, she headed back to the console room.

********

The Doctor had positioned a number of bins within easy reach, each one holding a different sort of "clear-out-able". He had just deposited a handful of extremely small candle stubs in the appropriate bin and had started to climb the bookshelf ladder to weed out unnecessary papers and documents, when he heard Benny come stalking into the room. He grinned as she marched up to him and, without a word, began a search of his trouser pockets as he stood on the ladder. He just let her search for the key she'd forgotten. After all, it wouldn't do her any good. He was almost tempted to follow her, just to see her reaction, but decided to stay where he was. He'd probably be able to hear her just fine, right where he was.

"Ah-ha!" She clasped the key in her hand and took off back to her chosen cleaning destination.

********

Back at the wine cellar, Benny inserted the key into the lock and turned it...or rather, tried to turn it. It wouldn't budge. She checked she had the right key. Yep, right key. She tried again. No luck. She tried again. Nothing. She heard a very bizarre sound, but knew immediately what it was. She also cottoned on immediately. "Blasted GIT!" She headed back to the console room. He could have told her outright, but probably thought this was much more fun. She didn't agree. She wasn't THAT weak around alcohol! Well, maybe she'd sneak just a drink or two. Still, honour demanded she protest his lack of trust in her.

*******

The Doctor burst out laughing. He certainly could hear Benny - clear from the wine cellar doors. Her language wasn't pretty, of course, but that was to be expected. He could have told her outright that, with her reputation, he knew if she was let into the wine cellar to clean, not a lot of cleaning would get done. She'd start out fine, but soon, the only thing that would get cleaned out would be his wine supply. He was going to do the wine cellar. He could have told her all that straightaway, but doing it like this was much more fun. The Doctor could be a right tease at times.

********

"YOU BLASTED FRIGGIN' GIT!!!!" Benny stormed into the console room. "You could have said you didn't trust me, although why not, I don't know. I'm not THAT unreliable in the wine cellar!" She glared at him. He just grinned at her, in that infuriating way of his.

He picked up one of the Hoovers. "Here. Why don't you start with the Cloister room?" He said gently. "The TARDIS should have put it right next to the wine cellar."

She raised a finger and started to protest. "I...OHHH!" She took the Hoover, exasperatedly, stuck her tongue out at him and, lips twitching slightly, called him a "Git" and left the room. The Doctor chuckled and went back to his bookshelves.

Some time later, he had the console room as cleared of rubbish as he could get it and was ready to start the mopping and polishing and other assorted cleaning tasks. But, before that, he took the rubbish to the TARDIS's rubbish room where the TARDIS would magically disperse it to the appropriate locations outside the TARDIS. That done, he walked back to the console room, whistling excerpts from "Snow White". Back in the console room, he started hoovering.

********

In the meantime, Benny was finding that hoovering the Cloister room was proving more difficult than she expected. She'd run the Hoover all over and had got every leaf in sight, only to turn round and find them back, all over the floor and the steps and everywhere. Patiently, and thinking the TARDIS was just trying to be funny, she vacuumed up the leaves and dust and dirt again. Within minutes, it was all back again! Benny was getting decidedly impatient. Being funny was one thing, this was just ridiculous. She did it all a third time...with the same results. She glared at the TARDIS and let out one enormous shout of irritation...

********

The Doctor, meanwhile, had finished up in the console room and had just done the wine cellar, when he heard Benny's cry of anger. He dashed to the Cloister room. He arrived just as Benny had picked up the Hoover and seemed about to toss it at the Eye of Harmony.

"BENNY! What ARE you doing???? You weren't about to throw that Hoover at the Eye of Harmony, were you?!" The Doctor looked appalled.

"It's a distinct possibility!"

"Benny, that could cause all manner of harm to who knows what! Only indigestion - if we're lucky. But, if we're not..." He left the warning unfinished.

Benny sighed and put down the vacuum. He was right, of course. But she was still royally annoyed with the TARDIS's little game. "Right then, Doctor, will you please explain to this TARDIS of yours, that putting all the dust and dirt and leaves back as soon as I've just hoovered them up is NOT going to win any Brownie points with me. If she does it again, I really am going to chuck this Hoover at the Eye! I'm serious!" She glared at the Doctor. "Well, she's YOUR TARDIS. What's she playing at? Hmm?" Benny stood with her hands on her hips.

The Doctor looked round, thoughtfully. The old girl wasn't usually so uncooperative when he helped clean. He stood looking round. Then he noticed. He smiled, which made Benny growl.

"Doctor.." She began.

He grinned at her. "Benny, you said she put all the leaves and dust and dirt back. Correct?"

"Yes, the cow!"

"Take another look. A very close look".

Benny looked very closely at the Cloister room floor. She stared hard. Then she just gaped. There wasn't a speck of dust or dirt anywhere on the floor. Just leaves... EVERYWHERE.

"What the...?" She looked at the Doctor, incredulously.

"Apparently, the old girl WANTS leaves on the floor, just not dust and dirt!" He chuckled. "She's such a romantic."

Benny shook her head. "Ohh! She could have found a better way to TELL me that!" She went over and poked the Doctor in the chest. "The pair of you are just alike, you know that? You both can be right PITAS at times!" She gave him an exasperated sigh, shook her head, and, grinning, in spite of herself, left to go clean the TARDIS wardrobe. The Doctor just chuckled again. He looked to the TARDIS. "You really shouldn't tease her like that, you know, old girl. Benny can have some very unique ideas on revenge." He grinned and left to clean the cinema. The TARDIS gave her equivalent of a laugh. The Doctor would soon be having his own set of cleaning difficulties in the cinema.

********

As the TARDIS had known, the Doctor was NOT finding it easy to clean the cinema. Firstly, he had to replace a number of lights - just so he could see. Then he wished he hadn't. It was NOT a pretty sight. For some time now, he and his companions and guests had only used a few rows in the centre of the room. They had gravitated directly there and had pretty much ignored the rest of the room. That, and the fact that he'd forgotten that, at one point, he'd had over 200 Skarasen in the TARDIS and had let them roam the entire ship and that they would have found their way here to the cinema. Thankfully, the creatures had NOT had any "accidents", but they HAD shed scales all over everything! There were weird little silver glints of light everywhere. Added to that, assorted used teacups, sweet wrappers, ice cream wrappers and popcorn tubs. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had THAT many guests in here.

One thing the Doctor had to do before he could start hoovering, was to push the seats up out of the way, so he could get the vacuum between the rows. After he'd pushed up about fifty seats and had to listen to the monotonous "thud" each time, he was starting to think that, by the time he'd done that with all 350 seats, he would be quite mad. About an hour and a half later, and after he'd gone to the sickbay to get something for his headache, he finally plugged in the Hoover - after trying several power points to find one that worked! He sighed and began to vacuum.

********

Benny spent an obscene amount of time in the wardrobe, trying things on before she got on with her cleaning. She laid aside a particularly desirable little number to take back to her room afterwards. Then she got on with the actual cleaning, after picking up things from the floor - including the things she'd tried on.

She decided to tackle various drawers first. She opened a drawer in a jewellery chest and carefully dumped the assortment of exotic costume jewellery out on the floor. She'd just started to apply the dust cloth to the inside of the drawer, when her foot bumped something on the floor near the chest. She looked down to see an old battered journal. It looked strangely familiar. "It CAN'T be!" She murmured. She picked it up. It was indeed an old journal of hers from years ago. One she'd used before assorted laptops and PDAS and other such devices had come on the scene. She'd used the journal for her notes at her digs. She tried to think how it could have possibly finished up in a jewellery drawer in the TARDIS wardrobe. After a moment she decided NOT to think about it. Instead, she sat down right where she was to read and reminisce.

********

In the cinema, the Doctor was in the middle of hoovering one of the centre back rows, when he spotted a tiny, shiny object. It was lying just inside the area of one seat leg down where the seat was bolted to the floor. He switched off the machine and bent to have a look - and gasped. "Well, well, I've been wondering for sometime where you'd got to." He murmured. "I looked and looked for you back then. I reckon that in my searching, I must have accidentally kicked you and you landed inside there. So sorry!" He picked up the tiny teaspoon. It was a souvenir one given to him by Anna, seventh Duchess of Bedford. He'd been invited to one of her first afternoon teas. She had been so charmed by him that she'd given him the tiny spoon to remember her by and as a thank you for being so delightful a guest. It was a beautiful little thing. It was in solid gold and the tip of the handle had a miniature portrait of Anna on it. It was a gift the Doctor thoroughly cherished. He thought for a moment. Then he remembered...

He'd come into the cinema, for a change, to watch "Bernard and the Genie" - instead of viewing it in the library as he usually did. And he'd had tea using his best china and had wanted a special teaspoon to use. He'd put the spoon into his pocket afterwards for a safe trip back to the kitchen, but he had accidentally missed his aim and it had dropped out. He'd made a search of the area round the seat he'd used, but couldn't find it. He'd gone back to the kitchen, feeling very sad at having lost such a special gift. Now he was thoroughly relieved and grateful at having it back. He held it tightly in his hand all the way back to the kitchen, which was also his next cleaning destination. But, once there, and after he'd carefully washed the teaspoon and put it away, he headed off out of the room...

********

In the wardrobe room, Benny was still reading her old journal. She was so absorbed she didn't notice the figure in the doorway.

"Got side-tracked, did we?" Benny nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirled round to see the Doctor grinning in the doorway. "I came to ask if you'd like to take a break and have a bite to eat - that is, if you've finished in here."

"Yes, I would. I am a bit peckish. I could do with a break. I can come back afterwards and finish in here."

"Oh, no problem, Benny. I can go rest in the console room while you finish up in here. I am a bit tired as well."

"No, I'll do this later." She saw his expression. "I will! Promise!" She looked up. "And that goes for you too, old girl!" Benny squeaked in mock exasperation. "And, if you're tired, Doc, I can fix us something. I've been dying to do a favourite light meal of one of my friends. I'll do the meal, you go rest, Doctor."

"All right, that I will! Thanks, Benny! Can't wait to see what you're making." He winked and left for the console room. Benny went to the kitchen, slipping her old journal into a pocket.

********

In the kitchen, Benny searched the cupboards for the necessary ingredients. She wasn't sure if the Doctor would have everything she needed, even though, he always seemed to be able to produce any sort of cuisine in the universe. Still, she was quite surprised and relieved to find what she thought would be the hardest thing to find. She got the other ingredients out of the fridge and got to work. It wasn't a fancy meal, by any means - just a new twist on an old favourite.

********

The Doctor had been dozing in his reading chair when Benny came in, wheeling a trolley containing a pot of tea and her surprise meal. She wheeled the trolley next to the Doctor's chair and, retrieving a second chair from elsewhere in the room, placed it on the other side of the trolley. She gently woke the Doctor.

"Doctor? Dooooctoor?" She softly called. He sleepily opened his eyes.

"Ah, ready already? Smells wonderful. What have you got for us, my dear Professor?" He sat up and looked on the trolley. It looked like a classic scrambled eggs, chips and beans meal. But there was something different about it. He looked up at her. "It's not the usual eggs, beans and chips, is it?" He smiled.

She grinned back. "No, it isn't. You see, my friend, Dilys, is a vegetarian - like you, but she's the sort that doesn't eat eggs. She also uses very little fat in her in diet. She developed this version of these old favourites and I fell in love with it. Scrambled tofu, chips baked in the oven and, well, she has this curried beans recipe that is absolutely scrumptious." Benny passed the Doctor a plate of food. "Dig in! You'll love it!"

He dug in and smiled. It was, as Benny had said, scrumptious. "Benny, this really is excellent! Well done! You'll have to teach me the recipes for everything." Benny smiled, pleased that the Doctor enjoyed her cooking. "Thanks, Doctor! Will do." They sat back and enjoyed the simple meal with a few new twists. During the meal, Benny asked exactly what had prompted the Doctor's desire to clean the TARDIS at this particular time.

He grinned and said, "It's what I call that "Click Moment", when it seems every fibre of your being says that this is the moment to take of a certain matter. It usually works out to be the best moment for whatever needs doing. It's as though, your mind just "clicks" and you know now is the time. You see what I mean, Benny?"

"Yes, I do. I've had a few of those and they do seem to indicate the best time for something. You just automatically start doing the job or whatever."

"Exactly. Now, if you've finished, I'll take the things back to the kitchen and get started in there and you can go back and finish in the wardrobe. All right?"

"Yes, I'm finished. I suppose the TARDIS knows which room I'll be doing after I've done the wardrobe, right?"

"Quite probably, Benny. Quite probably. She probably has my next cleaning job ready as well. See you soon, Benny! And thank you for the delicious meal!"

"No problem, Doc! See ya!" She headed back to the wardrobe room, as the Doctor took off for the kitchen.

********

Benny finished in the wardrobe room an hour or so later, then found herself wanting to tackle the library next. Before she left the wardrobe room, though, she had the silliest notion to put on one of the old-fashioned maid's outfits she'd found in the Victorian era section. She had a wild vision of herself dressed like a Victorian domestic happily dusting the shelves. She laughed and, for the sheer fun of it, decided to go for it.

********

It took the Doctor some time to do the kitchen, largely because of the Aga. It needed all sorts of attention. He was getting very tired again and he was sure Benny would probably want to call it a day as well. They could continue tomorrow. After he'd done the laundry room, he'd go seek her out and propose they quit for the day. Right now, a cup of tea and a bath sounded heavenly. He went to the laundry room. That shouldn't be too difficult.

In the laundry room, the Doctor began feeding clothes into the Martian cleaning machine. It would clean, dry, repair, press and fold the things. Apparently, the machine was starving. It seemed there was an unending amount of laundry to be done. His arms were getting quite tired feeding the washer. As he waited for the clothes to get done, he contemplated his supply of frock coats. He was getting low. He only had about a dozen left. Of course, he'd worn a few out and lost a few here and there, but he also had a habit of occasionally giving them away, when people were cold or injured and needed to be kept warm. The TARDIS did a pretty fair job of keeping him well-stocked with them, he had to admit. Frock coats were to him what white shirts were to the average Earth businessman. He needed vast numbers of them. To help the TARDIS out, he decided to make another trip to that wonderful tailor on Neo-Sidney and have a few new ones made up. Mostly in dark green, of course - that was his favourite colour and he looked so good in it, especially, with his chestnut hair. But he also thought he might get one or two in a different colour for a change. Maybe, a rich burgundy or a dark sapphire blue or chestnut to match his hair. By the time he was done musing, the laundry was finished. He put everything away and went to find Benny.

********

Benny was having a grand old time cleaning the library. She'd really got into her maid's role. She found herself imagining all manner of peers and barons and baronesses and lords and ladies dotted about the room, taking tea and chatting. She imagined fending off amorous lords and asking Lady This or That if she'd like more tea or for Benny to fetch the police to report the body under the settee. She was just doing some dusting of the books on the shelves and flirting with an imaginary Peer in the armchair nearby, when the Doctor appeared in the doorway, staring at her in surprise.

"Oh, Doctor. Sorry, but I found this costume in the wardrobe and well... one thing led to another and well..." She grinned sheepishly and blushed.

He chuckled. "Thought it might be something like that. You do get into the part don't you, Benny, my dear? I just came to say that, maybe, we should call it a day. We can pick this up in the morning. I could use a cup of tea, a bath and a nice long sleep. What about you?"

"I'm with you on that, Doctor! Good idea. Of course, I'm not exactly in the mood for tea..." She grinned. The Doctor chuckled. Benny will be Benny. They both headed for the kitchen for a little bedtime snack.

In the kitchen, the Doctor began making tea and muffins for himself. He turned to Benny to ask if she'd like a muffin as well and found her staring pointedly at him and grinning. She was also holding out her hand. He smiled and gave her the key to the wine cellar. Of course, it would work now. Benny took the key and as she walked past him to head for the wine cellar, she gave him a friendly pat on the backside and called him a rascal. He just laughed and went back to putting butter and cinnamon sugar on his muffin. When she came back, he suggested they go to the console room to eat. She agreed. They went along in companionable silence, each thinking of a bath and bed. They were both very tired and there was a lot of cleaning left for tomorrow. If they started early, they'd have a good chance of getting it all done. The Doctor had a lovely surprise waiting for when they finished.

The Doctor sat down in his reading chair and took a bite of his muffin. He sighed in satisfaction. He was just pouring himself a cup of tea, when he heard a soft sound. He looked over to find Benny had fallen asleep, before she'd even taken her first drink of her favourite lager. She was snoring softly. The Doctor yawned himself. And then, his tea grew cold and his muffin never got finished. He was asleep.

********

The next morning, each of them woke up with a crick in their necks and feeling VERY grungy. So, instead of a bedtime bath, they were having a morning soak before anything else! They were also ravenous! The Doctor made them french toast and Benny made them more of her scrambled tofu from the night before and hash browns. With orange juice, toast and tea, they were soon well sated and ready for the long list of rooms to be done. Benny chose to start with the lab and the Doctor opted for the art studio.

Both found themselves spending most of the time clearing up spilt this and spilt that - chemicals for Benny and old paints for the Doctor. Not to mention all manner of rags used to clean various equipment. When they were finished with their respective rooms, they both found themselves in the music room. What followed didn't involve only cleaning. When they had finished all necessary tidying, they looked at each other and smiled. In minutes, the Doctor was at the piano and Benny was on the drums and insanity broke loose. They gave hot jazz a whole new meaning. It was enormous fun and they were reluctant to stop. But, after they'd traded instruments and played a few more numbers, they moved on. If they kept getting hung up in the different rooms, cleaning would take at least a week and that didn't bear thinking about. Even though the TARDIS herself would be doing the beach room, the butterfly room and the fairy meadow and forest, cleaning would still take all of another day. They had to stop messing about and get on with it or it would take a third day. Not a pleasant idea.

********

The Doctor's next room was the sick bay. When he'd gone in the day before, for something for his headache, he'd noticed quite a bit needed doing in there. He started by removing all sorts of rubbish to the rubbish room and then, he had to do the beds. That meant changing the sheets and taking them to the laundry for washing. When he came back, he looked in the medicine cabinets and nearly fainted. He was out of nearly everything. There was nothing for it, but another shopping trip. Out he went.

********

Benny had actually volunteered to do as many of the bathrooms as she could find, except for the Doctor's ensuite bathroom by his bedroom. He could do his own and she would do her own, when she did her room. Right now, she was doing the "public" bathrooms. She got there and wished she hadn't. The cleaning she could handle, but several of the bathrooms needed some rather major repairs. Nothing she couldn't handle, but very tiresome. They were going to HAVE to help keep up the TARDIS more often. This was ridiculous. It was a big place, true, but they could still do a better job. She got on with her cleaning and repairing.

********

The Doctor returned with around double his usual assortment of medications. By the time, all this cleaning was done, he - and probably Benny as well, would need several doses of headache tablets. He was coming to the same conclusions as Benny had in the bathrooms. They needed to do a better job of helping to keep the TARDIS clean and well-stocked. He headed for his bedroom, sorely tempted to have a lie-down. But he wanted to get the cleaning done.

Benny, who by now was doing her bedroom as well, was feeling much the same. When they finished all of this, she was going to demand the Doctor take them both on holiday!

********

When they arrived at the pamper room together, there was a mild disagreement over who should do it. It really didn't need two people to clean it, but it was so relaxing just being there, that neither wanted to give in. In the end, they considered tossing a coin, but decided they both could do it after all. They were getting tired and it would be easier if they did share the work. They stripped down to their underwear and started with the sauna.

There wasn't really that much to do in the sauna, so they had a much needed lie-down once they finished the few things that did need doing. They also talked for a bit. Some minutes later, Benny had an idea. She got up and grabbed the Doctor's arm. She pulled the startled Doctor out of the sauna and pushed him into the hot tub/jacuzzi. He gasped. The water was ice cold! Just right for a proper end to a proper sauna, but a right shock! The water in the hot tub/jacuzzi was usually...well, hot.

Benny jumped in, grinning. She answered the Doctor's unspoken question. "Something just told me the water would be cold. I was thinking that it might be because the TARDIS might be doing the beach room."

"Or maybe, she knows we're just too exhausted to make it to the beach room." The Doctor chuckled.

"She'd be right there. But we should get out and do the rest of the room, shouldn't we?"

"Yes, I guess you're right, Benny." He reluctantly pulled himself out of the tub. Benny followed, also reluctant. Their underwear was soaked. The Doctor pulled a couple of white terry spa robes out of a locker and passed one to Benny. Using them as cover, they got out of the wet items and put them to dry in the sauna. The things would be dry by the time they'd finished the rest of the pamper room. They changed the towels and the futon cover and replaced candles and lotions and such and added some new music to the room's soothing collection. By the time they were done, they were both yawning and it was barely noon. They decided on a light lunch and a nap.

********

It was around teatime, as they settled down to their cups of tea in the library, when the Doctor said they'd done enough. Benny sighed in relief. Then the Doctor told her he had a surprise for the evening. He said she was to find something extra special in the wardrobe, because they were having dinner and dancing somewhere special. Benny was intrigued and pleased. She took off for the wardrobe. The only thing further she could get out of the Doctor was that the place he had in mind was warm. He would tell her nothing else.

********

A few hours later, and after the Doctor had uncovered Benny's eyes, she gazed out at a lovely beach at sunset. She could smell the sea air. She smiled. It was beautiful. She looked at the Doctor.

He smiled and said, "Welcome to Morocco, Benny! I just had an uncontrollable craving for some couscous with an assortment of local vegetables and spices. I thought eating by the seaside would be perfect."

"Doctor, it IS perfect. Just perfect! Thank you!" She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Maybe, they ought to spend several days cleaning again sometime, if this was to be the reward." thought Benny.

He led her to a table and pulled out her chair. Then a waiter brought a wine list and menus and, after making their selections, they proceeded to enjoy a wonderful evening.

"This really is just perfect, Doctor. Thank you!"

"You're most welcome, Professor!" Then he gave her his most charming smile and Benny decided that the Doctor's smiles weren't at all infuriating, after all.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> My spelling of wagon as "waggon" is not so much a misspelling as it is the old-fashioned way to spell the word. I just find the old way rather charming and frequently use it in my stories.
> 
> Also, the reference to "Neo-Sydney" is, of course, from "Seeing I" - which I've just reread for about umpteenth time since getting it nearly ten years ago.


End file.
